@K-in-Boston wrote:
@SouthJamaica wrote:With 30% aggregate utilization my score would probably be down around 70 points or so, so I would not consider that "standard".
How can that be possible?! What other penalties are you receiving? With aggregate utilization in the 80s and 90s, my scores were right around your EQ score. I cannot possibly see dropping from 712 to 642 for simply hitting 30% utilization.
What can I tell you? My scores were down around 60-70 points when my revolving utilization at 25%. Now with utilization at 21% they're down around 50 points with negative FICO 8 reason codes across all 3 bureaus: "The amount owed on your revolving and/or open-ended accounts is too high". TransUnion adds the additional one: "You've made heavy use of your available credit"
So for me 21% is not "moderate".
If you want to blame me, because I don't fit CassieCard's chart, sorry.
The only other "penalties" I am receiving are the usual ones I have always had ever since I started drinking the MyFICO Forum Kool-Aid about 5 years ago: "You've recently been looking for credit" and "You have a short credit history" which I get in EQ and EX.
@Anonymous wrote:
@SouthJamaica wrote:
@K-in-Boston wrote:
@SouthJamaica wrote:With 30% aggregate utilization my score would probably be down around 70 points or so, so I would not consider that "standard".
How can that be possible?! What other penalties are you receiving? With aggregate utilization in the 80s and 90s, my scores were right around your EQ score. I cannot possibly see dropping from 712 to 642 for simply hitting 30% utilization.
What can I tell you? My scores were down around 60-70 points when my revolving utilization at 25%. Now with utilization at 21% they're down around 50 points with negative FICO 8 reason codes across all 3 bureaus: "The amount owed on your revolving and/or open-ended accounts is too high". TransUnion adds the additional one: "You've made heavy use of your available credit"
So for me 21% is not "moderate".
If you want to blame me, because I don't fit CassieCard's chart, sorry.
The ranges I used in the chart were established long before I got here:
This graph that Thomas_Thumb made shows it more clearly:
I disagree with you that the ranges were, or are, "established", and I disagree that the graph made by Thomas_Thumb suports them.
@bloccoblu wrote:Sorry if this is the wrong category for this question....is there a formula for determining how high my utilization can be before losing points? my overall utilization now is 9%. When i crossed from 6% to 9% i lost 6 points..not really wanting to do that again but wasnt sure if the range for the loss i already experienced is 9% to some other number. Not looking to finance anything major in the near future just want to optimize whenever possible. Any information you can provide would be greatly appreciated.
my balances now are:
amex 6% 976/15000
boa 1% 283/16500
citi 9% 656/7000
discover 13% 2084/15500
navy 12% 3131/25000
navy 0% 0/1000
merrick less than 1% 6/1200
fingerhut 0% 0/700
Going from 6% to 9% aggregate utilization certainly should cause a score drop. Best to stay below 9%. In your case you have a large number (and percentage) of cards reporting balances. Did # cards with a balance increase? Either way, you should see a score boost by reducing # cards reporting balances from 6 of 8 (75%) to 3 of 8 (37.5%) even at constant utilization.
Tom's general guidelines (for Fico 8 and Fico 9) are:
1) Report balances on 50% of cards or less (with a few exceptions). Mortgage scores are affected more than Fico 8.
- If only 1 card, report a balance on it, you will lose points (typically 15 to 20) if no balance reported
- If two cards, ideally report a balance on one card but if both cards report balances don't fret
- If three cards avoid reporting a balance on all 3 (100%) but don't fret if 2 report
- If 4 cards try to report balances on 1 or 2 cards. Avoid reporting balances on all 4 (100%)
- If 5 or more cards, try not to exceed 50% reporting.
2) For those with a lot of credit cards, limit number reporting balances to 5 or less. Indications are there is a "too many" attribute not specifically tied to % reporting. This attribute may come into play more for those with recent (under 12 month) account openings or inquiries under 12 months (seeking credit).
3) Aggregate utilization is a big deal for all Fico models. Keep aggregate under 9% and more preferrably under 5%.
4) Individual card utilization can be an important scoring attribute particularly for those having recent credit or thin files. Best to keep individual card utilizations under 29%. If you have recent new credit and a young file there may be some benefit by not having any cards report a balance of 9% or more.
5) In addition to revolving utilization as a %, it appears that total balance in dollars may be looked at for scoring. If so, there are likely multiple thresholds for this. You may need to tease this out for your profile.
Full disclosure: I don't personally practice the above. I let all charges accumulate on statements and then pay the statement balance before its due date. I have a couple daily driver cards but, utilize all my cards every few months to safeguard against a CLD or closure due to inactivity. My Fico mortage scores (mostly EQ) will fluctuate when over 50% report balances but, so what - I'm not seeking new credit.
EQ Fico 04 (score 5) does not like it when all my cards report balances - even when aggregate utilization is 3%. My score will drop from 809 to 764 going from 3 of 6 to 6 of 6 cards reporting balances [at essentially the same UT%]. Then the next month I report balances on 2 cards and pop goes the weasel: EQ score back up to 809. I've tested this on 3 different occasions with repeatable results - although one time the drop was only to 765 
.
Unless you need to optimize score for new credit seeking, don't sweat utilization related score fluctuations. The impact is point in time with no lingering effect. Just know your profile and what you need to do to prepare for any major credit seeking event. Life is too short to micromanage timing of payments to ensure zero balance reporting on statement cut dates - IMO. Just PIF statement balances to avoid interest payments and built a positive credit history over time.
Guideline recap: Under 9% AG UT, Under 29% Card UT, 50% or less reporting balances, 5 or fewer with balances. If you are seeking new credit where mortgage scores are used, then consider using the AZEO technique for score optimization. If not seeking then stop worrying and relax.
thank you for the extremely thorough explanation.
Yes my number of cards with balances increased. I completely forgot that I could pay balances to zero to avoid balances reporting. I was concerned with cards being closed or limits reduced for non use or not enough use. Also as I was working on thickening my file I didn’t want declines while applying for credit because I wasn’t using the credit I already had. I also paid balances to 0 with only a couple cards and score dropped. I never reverted back to paying some balances to zero once the number of cards I had increased.
I’ll pay some of them down to optimize a bit more.
Hopefully I can get to your low threshold of 765 soon I’ve been hovering in the 735-740 range.
As far as managing all of the balances I’ll get my daughter to create a spreadsheet of sorts. She needs something to do while social distancing from school..lol hopefully it will also teach her how to maintain her own credit here soon.
thanks again for yours and everyone else’s time and responses. I greatly appreciate it.